These are uncertain times for business owners at the impact of COVID-19.
You may have been forced to close your operations as you are not an essential business. Some businesses have transitioned, and employees are working from home. How you are running your business today, may not be the same as tomorrow.
For a business, employees are your most valuable resource; without them, you have no business. Having an open, honest, well-informed communication strategy is critical.
- Reassure employees about the broader situation and what it means for their employment, both day-to-day and into the future.
- Reach out personally via email or call your employees directly to make sure they know you understand it’s not business as usual. Ask how they are doing and inquire about the wellbeing of their families and communities. Your employees may also be dealing with family members that have lost their income. They may have a lot of questions about their employment.
- Take the time to let them communicate their concerns and address each one with the information available to you. If you don’t know the answer to a question, that’s okay. Let them know you will look into it and share the information as soon as you have it.
- Share regular, up-to-date information make a point of passing along useful articles or action plans about managing through the outbreak and the impact to the business. Reassuring them about the broader situation and what it means for their employment, both day-to-day and into the future.
- Your employees need to see that you’re doing everything possible to protect their lives and the lives of the public above all else. Be empathetic to your employees concerns and challenges.
- Be kind to yourself everyone’s figuring this situation out as they go; there’s no guidebook for COVID-19.
- Not only are you trying to do what’s right for your employees, but you’re also facing your own personal stresses, trying to keep yourself and your family healthy.
You may feel a responsibility to your employees to fix everything, but you also have one to yourself. Your business and the people you employ need you now more than ever to take care of yourself.
The challenges coming out of COVID-19 will require you to be healthy and prepared to take the lead in getting back to “normal”.